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MICROBUDGET MASSACRE 3! My Skin! was one of several disturbing horror shorts films from Christopher
Alan Broadstone that appeared in my mailbox this month, the others being
Scream For me and Human No More. Dark in both tenor and appearance,
the acting appears to be a notch above usual, and I must single out
the menacing-looking Tony Simmons, who stars ably in all three. Broadstone
takes a stab (sorry!) at presenting these tales of murder from slightly
unusual perspectives, and I like the effort to stay away from cliché.
With a real lighting crew and in a longer format piece, he might make
a more developed and complicated statement. Themes of transformation,
obsession, revenge, power and control seem to keep popping up in these
three shorts. Loads of extras, behind the scenes photos, etc. Hopefully
Broadstone will continue to tweak horror film expectations in a way
that will display even more thoughtfulness and ingenuity than hinted
at in these short films. For info contact the filmmaker at: www.blackcabproductions.com. Stalking Hand is a schlocky horror film, with bad actors playing characters with poor motivations. Not nearly as clever as it wants to be; annoying cute music and sound effects (cuckoo and fart noises!) mar it further. Filled with one-offs and jokey asides, it feels a bit busy and forced, like they’re displaying too many of their influences rather than developing their own style. Lighting seems to fluctuate wildly within scenes, as does the size of the hand from scene to scene. Three Stooges influence, but not in a good way. The hand even does the old three stooges poke in the eye routine, like in Army of Darkness. Must have been funny for the filmmaker’s friends, otherwise it’s fairly painful to watch. Subtitled A Scary Movie, the only thing scary about it is that some poor schmuck might be suckered into wasting his money on this. If you still want to watch it, put a nail gun to your head, then go to the website at: www.onemanfilmindustry.com. Our final feature is the convention fave Chainsaw Sally. Started as
a character on a website (www.chainsawsally.org)
and expanded into a movie, and appears to be the first in a franchise.
Finally released by Shock-O-Rama Cinema, it stars April Monique Burrill,
a pale goth-looking chick with OK acting skills but plenty enough charisma
and playfulness to pull off the starring role. Of course, the fact that
her husband is the writer/director couldn’t have hurt, either.
Sally (as shown in flashbacks) and her brother are the survivors of
an attack that killed their family, and turned them into pop culture-inspired
serial killers. Obviously made by horror fans, with a salute to Toolbox
Murders and cameos of Gunnar Hansen as her father and HG Lewis as a
friendly neighborhood shopkeeper. Of course, as the title suggests there
are deaths by chainsaw, but also some other creative kills: acid poured
down throat with a fabulous bloody diarrhea coming out the other end,
dick cut off, nailgun fu. With an indie soundtrack. DVD extras include
storyboards, interview, trailers, etc. Decent performances and bloody
SFX highlight its’ good clean fun. Smarter and funnier than a
lot of the indie horror I regularly sit through, and I think horror
fans will like it. Available from our friends at
-Eric Bradner |
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